November 16, 2013 - SPACE - Reports of naked-eye sightings
of Comet ISON are coming in from around the world.
Experienced observers put the comet's magntitude
at +5.5 on Nov. 16th. This means it is now fully
10 times brighter than it was only three days ago
before the outburst. To the naked eye, ISON appears
as a faint smudge of pale green light low in the
pre-dawn sky. The view through a
telescope is more dramatic. The comet's tail
has become a riotous crowd of gaseous streamers
stretching more than 3.5 degrees across the sky.
Amateur astronomer Waldemar Skorupa sends this picture
from Kahler Asten, Germany:

The tail is so long, he couldn't fit
the whole thing in the field of view. How long is
it? Comet ISON's tail extends more than 8 million
kilometers behind the comet's nucleus. For comparison,
that's 21 times the distance between Earth and the
Moon.

Because so much gas and dust is spewing
from the comet's core, it is impossible to see clearly
what caused Comet ISON's outburst on Nov. 13-14.
One possibility is that fresh veins of ice are opening
up in the comet's nucleus, vaporizing furiously
as ISON approaches the sun. Another possibility
is that the nucleus has completely fragmented.

"If so, it will still be several
days before we know for sure," says Karl Battams,
an astronomer with NASA's Comet ISON Observing Campaign.
"When comet nuclei fall apart, it’s not like
a shrapnel-laden explosion. Instead, the chunks
slowly drift apart at slightly different speeds.
Given that ISON’s nucleus is shrouded in such a
tremendous volume of light-scattering dust and gas
right now, it will be almost impossible to determine
this for at least a few days and perhaps not until
the comet reaches the field of view of NASA's STEREO
HI-1A instrument on November 21, 2013. We will have
to wait for the chunks to drift apart a sufficient
distance, assuming they don't crumble first."

In short, no one knows for sure what
is happening to Comet ISON. This could be the
comet's death throes--or just the first of many
brightening events the comet experiences as it plunges
toward the sun for a close encounter on Thanksgiving
Day (Nov. 28th).

Monitoring is encouraged. Comet ISON
rises in the east just before the sun. Amateur astronomers,
if you have a GOTO telescope, enter
these coordinates. Dates of special interest
include Nov. 17th and 18th when the comet will pass
the bright star Spica, making ISON extra-easy to
find.

November 16, 2013 - WORLDWIDE VOLCANOES - The following constitutes the new activity, unrest and ongoing reports of volcanoes across the globe, courtesy of Volcano Discovery.

Etna (Sicily, Italy): Intense strombolian activity is occurring at the New SE crater. Tremor
has been climbing slowly, and it seems more and more likely that the
next paroxysm is about to start in a near future.

Sinabung (Sumatra, Indonesia):
Explosions continue to become gradually stronger. Two powerful
vulcanian explosions occurred on 14 Nov producing ash plumes rising to
about 12,000 ft (3.6 km) and causing small pyroclastic flows. More than
5000 people have been evacuated so far.

Colima (Western Mexico):
Activity has increased recently, judging from recent pcitures of the
volcano. Abundant rockfalls and lava flows descend the flank of the
steep cone. It appears that growth of the lava dome has resumed in speed
and overflows the rims of the crater.

November 16, 2013 - SPACE - The Leonid meteor shower, one of the most dependable meteor displays of the year, will be at its most impressive overnight Saturday and early Sunday. For the best viewing, stargazers are advised to lie down on the ground, far away from artificial light.

The annual meteor shower occurs each November when the earth passes through a stream of space debris left in the wake of the Temple-Tuttle comet.

As the icy comet streaks towards the sun, it is slowly melting. It reaches the Solar System once every 33 years, leaving a rocky trail millions of miles wide and hundreds of miles long. As the earth moves through the comet’s orbital path, the debris burns up in the atmosphere, causing what looks like shooting starts to dance across the night sky.

Some of the rocky trail drifts into earth’s orbit every November. The debris collides with the earth’s atmosphere and the rocks are vaporized in a flash, giving the illusion of fireballs exploding out of the constellation Leo.

Although the meteor shower takes place on a smaller scale every year, it is truly breathtaking every 33 years, with more than 1,000 meteors lighting the sky every hour. This kind of display will not happen until 2034.

This year, the meteor shower will be partially obscured by the full moon.

“Unfortunately the full moon in the sky will likely wash out all but the very brightest Leonids. The shower should be visible from any populated area on the planet with clear dark skies, though Northern Hemisphere observers are favored due to the radiant’s location in the constellation Leo,” officials from NASA explained in a skywatching guide.

They added that for the best view, stargazers should lie on the ground and look straight up into the dark sky, away from artificial lights.

However, NASA is not able to predict the intensity of the display, as there is no way of knowing how much debris is in each stream.

In 1833, observers could see up to 100,000 meteors per hour, while in 1966 viewers watched 10-15 meteors light up the sky per second. The last meteor shower like this was in 2002.

The best time to view the shower is not during its peak. Rather, it will be best viewed on Friday night between midnight and dawn, or even as late as mid-week next week during the same time, according to Space.com. - RT.

Moreover , there are no boundaries between the land of palm PT SAM with a buffalo rancher in Central Bejayau village .

The flow of water is discharged directly into the River Country , suspected to be the cause of pollution in the region and resulted in hundreds of head of cattle owned by residents dead swamp buffaloes .

However , as the planting of palm , 450 tail off or forced to die . Now live 150 alive .

Residents filed a claim for compensation to the PT SAM at Rp3 , 760 billion . The demand was conveyed 139 residents who are members of group 6 . " That's per tail 7 million , " he explained .

He said in 2010, many children were dead swamp buffalo and ooze pus in the eyes . Whereas previously had never happened , he was reported to PT SAM , but no response. - Tribun News.

6 TONS Of Fish Have Died In A Reservoir In Boyolali.

The rain that started menguyur Boyolali area , making anxious owners cages in Reservoir Cengklik Boyolali. LHA how not? For two days , as much as 6 tons of red snapper die. Death is feared will continue to happen when it rains at night while during the day the weather was very hot.

As disclosed Antok (30) resident Sobokerto Ngemplak, fish deaths occur almost every day. Even within a single swath cages, fish mortality to 2 tons. Fish that had just died and still fresh, though still sold at very cheap prices, from Rp 10 thousand to $ 15 thousand, while the price of fresh fish for themselves Rp 17,500 per kilogram. While the fish are dead and decayed immediately discarded.

According to derivative Hamlet Village District Ngemplak Sobokerto this, the fish deaths are caused due to extreme weather changes lately. He gave an example, during the day, the weather was very hot. However, the afternoon rain. This condition can cause the water to become cloudy. Because the sediment water reservoir will rise.

"If the sediment rises, the water becomes turbid, and the oxygen in the water is reduced. Fish will die from lack of oxygen. Not to mention if the number of fish in cages has been overloaded, so the fish die easily. If it is dead, yes forced to harvest early," he continued.

Other farmers, Walidi states, to reduce fish mortality, one solution is to reduce the fish feed. Usually in a day, the fish were fed twice a day, morning and afternoon, but this time in a day to be fed only once a day.

"Experience has-been , if we give the feed a lot of late, rainy night, the next morning, had a lot of dead fish," said Walidi. - Timlo. [Translated]

November 16, 2013 - SPACE - A comet which could become the brightest for a century is racing into our solar system, to the delight of astronomers.

Comet ISON will pass exceptionally close to the sun in just under a fortnight, creating a spellbinding cosmic spectacle as ice in its body vapourises and forms a distinct bright tail.

Cosmic show: Comet ISON, which is heading to within 600,000 miles of our sun on November 28

At least, it will if the heat does not blast the comet to smithereens - which scientists warn is not out of the question.

The comet was discovered in September last year by two amateur astronomers using Russia's International Scientific Optical Network, ISON, who marvelled at how bright it was even beyond Jupiter's orbit.

On November 28 it will pass just 621,000 miles from the sun's surface - 150 times closer to our star than we are.

It will be more than 100 times closer to the sun than the Hale-Bopp comet, one of the brightest of the last century which was visible with the naked eye for a record 18 months in 1997.

As it blasts towards the sun, the intense gravitational pull will make it speed up to 234 miles per second.

The sun's rays will also heat the ball of ice, metal and rock to 2,760 degrees Celsius, making it much brighter than most comets - with some scientists claiming it could outshine the moon.

The comet, top right, has so far been photographed through telescopes
and long exposures but is expected to be visible to the naked eye
throughout December and January. It could be the brightest for 100 years.

An image taken by astronomers in Maryland, U.S., which shows how directly it is heading for the sun.

Some have warned that the intense pressure on the comet could simply blast it apart, as the heat melts not just the ice but also rock and metal.

However, recent calculations have shown ISON is more likely than not to survive.

Over the weekend, amateur astronomers began posting the first pictures of the comet on the Internet that were taken with just binoculars or small telescopes.

Pilot Brian Whittaker wrote on the SpaceWeather.com website: 'I finally saw Comet ISON for the first time using small binoculars! It was faint, but is predicted to brighten and move each day! Exciting!'

It is expected to be visible to the naked eye in early mornings throughout December and during the night in January.

Comets are believed to be frozen remains left over from the formation of the solar system four and a half billion years ago.

Supercomet: ISON could prove brighter than Hale-Bopp, pictured, which lit up the skies in 1997.

ISON, which has never visited our solar system before, has emerged from the Oort Cloud, a reservoir of icy bodies beyond Neptune's orbit.

These balls of ice are occasionally 'bumped' by the sun's gravity out of the cloud and into a flight path that brings them into the inner solar system.

The vast majority of comets are invisible to the naked eye, but the most famous is Halley's Comet.

That is because it is the only comet which visits often enough and shines brightly enough to be seen by most people in their lifetime.

It comes to our solar system between every 75 and 76 years and last visited in 1986. Among other things, it inspired the name of 1950s rock and roll outfit Bill Haley and His Comets. - Daily Mail.

November 16, 2013 - SAUDI ARABIA - Severe flooding is being reported in Saudi Arabia, especially in the kingdom’s capital of Riyadh, with the government closing schools and urging people to stay indoors amid heavy rain. Flooding is rare in the country dominated by the Arabian Desert.

Image: Twitter user @Jana_oOo

Witnesses in Riaydh, which is also the country’s largest city, are reporting flooded streets and shops. Pictures posted on Twitter show cars drowning in rainwater.

November 16, 2013 - LIBYA - There has been renewed fighting between rival militias on the outskirts of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, a day after at least 43 people died in clashes.

The latest violence in the suburb of Tajoura, involving local militiamen and fighters from Misrata, left one dead.

People assist a man who was injured after Libyan militiamen opened
fire on a crowd wanting them to move
out of their headquarters on
November 15, 2013 in southern Tripoli. (AFP Photo / Mahmud Turkia)

Friday's clashes occurred after protesters marched on the headquarters of the Misrata militia to demand that it leave Tripoli, and were fired upon.

The government is struggling to contain militias who control parts of Libya.

On Saturday Prime Minister Ali Zeidan confirmed that fresh fighting had taken place in Tajoura.

He urged all sides to "exercise maximum restraint", adding: "No forces from outside Tripoli should attempt to enter the city because the situation is very tense and could escalate further."

AFP quoted Mr Zeidan as saying: "The coming hours and days will be decisive for the history of Libya and the success of the revolution."

Many died and hundreds were wounded in fighting following a protest against a militia on Friday.

The BBC's Rana Jawad in Tripoli says Tajoura is seen as the gateway to the capital and the latest fighting was sparked when an armed convoy from Misrata entered it in an apparent attempt to make its way to the centre.

Misrata is about 200km to the east of the capital.

Our correspondent says armed groups halted the convoy, which retreated 15km (9 miles) away, but that live rounds were exchanged for some time afterward.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement that he was "deeply concerned" by the latest clashes and urged "all sides to exercise restraint and restore calm".

Civilian backlash

Government-linked militias set up checkpoints across the capital amid tightened security for the funerals of many of those killed on Friday.

Officials have updated the death toll from Friday's violence from 31 to 43. About 500 people were wounded.

Friday's fighting began after demonstrators marched on the headquarters of the Misrata brigades in the capital's Ghargour district.

Mr Zeidan said the protest march had been "peaceful and came under fire when it entered Ghargour".

However, Libya's al-Ahrar television quoted Taher Basha Agha, the head of the Misrata militia at Ghargour, as saying that the protesters were armed.

"It was not a peaceful demonstration. They carried light arms and shot at us," he was quoted as saying.

Libyan protesters gather during a demonstration calling on militiamen to
vacate their headquarters
in southern Tripoli on November 15, 2013.(AFP
Photo / Mahmud Turkia)

Libyan protesters gather during a demonstration calling on militiamen to
vacate their headquarters
in southern Tripoli on November 15, 2013.
(AFP Photo / Mahmud Turkia)

Witnesses said the militiamen had initially fired to ward off the protesters, some of whom were children, but shot at the crowd when it continued to advance.

Other witnesses said armed men returned hours later to storm the militia HQ, with some buildings set on fire.

It is unclear how many casualties were caused at the initial protest and at the later fighting.

A militia group calling itself the Shield of Libya said on Saturday it had secured Ghargour and that the Misrata fighters had withdrawn.

WATCH: Protest against Libya militias turns deadly.

The Misrata militia was involved in clashes in the capital last week which left two people dead.

There have been increasing demands from civilians that the militias - which emerged during the 2011 revolution - disband or join the army, in line with an end-of-year deadline set by the interim government in Tripoli.

Some militiamen have been given salaries and taken into the government security forces but many still remain loyal to their own commanders.

Last month, Mr Zeidan was briefly seized by a militia group in Tripoli.

Two years after the overthrow of Col Muammar Gaddafi, Libya still has no constitution and divisions between secular and Islamist forces have paralysed parliament. - BBC.

November 16, 2013 - UNITED STATES - Startling reports of a new deadly virus infecting dogs have arisen in
the media in the past month. It's said to be highly contagious for dogs
and can kill them in just a few days. Currently, there's no viable
veterinary treatment available, because no one even knows entirely what
this is yet or how it spreads. Tests for it take weeks to get results,
to no avail for the pet who has it.

Strangely, it is confined to three states - California, Ohio and
Michigan. It was actually first detected in dogs in 2012. Although,
media reports such as one coming out of Arizona
seem confident that it will make its way across the United States,
undoubtedly causing panic for dog lovers everywhere. Symptoms include
severe intestinal inflammation, varying lethargy, weight loss, diarrhea
and vomiting.

For now, it is being labeled in dogs as circovirus
which is actually a name to describe the largely unknown small viruses
seen in other species. It is suspected that the infected dogs have
serious internal bleeding - major systems like the chest bleeding into
the abdomen and areas that lead to internally bleeding to death.

Veterinarians have known it to affect pigs - wiping out a hog farm in a
week. Pet birds, too - like parrots, parakeets and cockatiels - have
shown signs of this disease. But only now is the sudden arrival of
an interspecies jump to domesticated dogs.

A Cincinnati, Ohio kennel called The Pet Spot saw four dogs stricken ill. There are also reports coming from Ann Arbor and Detroit.
This is a major concern for the pet housing industry and perhaps animal
hospitals. But not all researchers are convinced about what it is or if
it should induce panic. In nearly 70% of animals tested with suspect
circovirus, they showed signs of other disease-states such as parvovirus. The American Veterinary Medical Association has released a FAQ to comfort pet owners.

Since this disease is just surfacing, solutions haven't been suggested
yet, but if it is as big of a public health threat as purported, one can
imagine some extreme measures. Reports show an emphasis on the lack of a
vaccine.

WATCH: Dangerous virus killing dogs.

Interspecies disease transmissions have been discovered before in some questionably creepy research studies involving
injection of the virus into the brain of another species. One
unsettling thought that I cannot shake is how strange it is for this
disease, seen in hogs, to suddenly appear in Michigan where the DNR is
dead-set on eradicating what it deems "invasive species" - i.e. domesticated heritage hogs that people rely on for pasture-raised meat.

November 16, 2013 - JAPAN - A 5.5 magnitude earthquake hit eastern Japan on Saturday. Tremors were felt from inside Tokyo skyscrapers, and the city’s high-speed train service was halted as a precaution.

The earthquake struck at 8:44 p.m. local time (11:44 a.m. GMT) at a depth of 63 kilometers (39 miles) in the Chiba prefecture which neighbors Tokyo, the US Geological Survey reported.

Reuters / Issei Kato

The quake shook skyscrapers in the Japanese capital and temporarily halted the city’s high-speed train service, according to AFP. The trains soon resumed after a track inspection.

Local broadcaster NHK assured that neither Tokyo’s Narita International Airport nor regional nuclear installations were affected by the earthquake.

There were no reports of damage or casualties.

It comes just one week after another 5.5 earthquake struck close to the capital, and three weeks after a major 7.3 magnitude quake sent small tsunamis to Japan’s northeast coast and prompted an evacuation at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

While earthquakes of different magnitudes are not uncommon in Japan, the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster that triggered the core meltdowns of three reactors at the Fukushima plant has made every quake report in the region particularly alarming.

Image from earthquake.usgs.gov

As the world watches with apprehension at how Fukushima’s decommissioning work unfolds, prominent Japanese-Canadian scientist David Suzuki warned last week that another nearby earthquake of magnitude 7 or higher could trigger a serious nuclear catastrophe, decimating Japan and reaching the US west coast.

“If the fourth [reactor] goes under an earthquake and those rods are exposed, then it’s bye, bye, Japan and everybody on the west coast of North America should be evacuated. And if that isn’t terrifying, I don’t know what is,” Suzuki said.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), Fukushima’s operator, is set to begin the unprecedented and ambitious operation of removing 400 tons of hazardous spent fuel from the devastated plant. The work has already run into some obstacles, as some of the assemblies turned out to have been damaged even before the March 2011 disaster, making them unsuitable for the planned transportation. - RT.

News of the fireball started to flood social networks in the early hours of Saturday morning. Its flight and the light generated by the falling chunk of space rock across the night skies of Japan, was published in the following video:

November 16, 2013 - CHINA - Washington surround Fuzhou Strait International Exhibition Center Pu river , in May 2010 completion of the regulation , was also held in May this year, 2013 Chinese Dragon Boat Race Fuzhou races . Then the river rippling green grass on both sides . But yesterday , some residents reflect Pu river on ten thousand dead fish appeared .

Pu full of dead fish floating down the river, stretching hundreds of meters.

Yesterday afternoon, the reporter went to Pu river boat stands side , and saw fish floating in the river around the body , stretching hundreds of meters . Big fish about 8 cm , a small only four centimeters. Zhang said nearby residents , have not found dead a few days ago , just 8 o'clock yesterday morning , he went out to work and found dead fish all over the river .

Pu river water black, stood by the river , floated bursts of odor. A rolling river discharge slurry pipeline , the pipeline near dyed yellow , Pu river is divided into two entirely different , some yellow, some black.

Reporters view along the pipeline , near two hundred meters or so, there is a new museum in Fujian Province Science and Technology Museum construction site , and Malaysia by the Fujian Construction Engineering Co., Ltd. is responsible for construction . Site staff to deny slurry discharged from the pipe from the site .

Reporters will be reflected to the river at the Fuzhou Municipal Construction Committee . At 8 pm , River City Construction Department official to the scene to see dead fish and river discharge slurry pump case . The person in charge , said after viewing the scene , found dead near the layer of oil , which is oil pump and Minjiang river sluice between the leakage of oil, currently leaking oil where it has been stuffed. The official speculated that dead fish and oil may be relevant , and said it would send cleanup of dead fish , and to determine the cause of death .

Pu river shore a discharge pipe rolling mud, the river dyed yellow

As for shore pipeline row mud, the official said , the mud is discharged from rainwater pipes , sewage pipes may be connected enterprise rainwater pipes due. Today , they will be distributed along the rainwater pipes , investigation sewage companies .

Fuzhou Marine and Fisheries Technology Center Professor Gong Mengzhong saw photos of dead fish , these are not dead fish tilapia , also ruled out the temperature is too low the fish froze to death speculation. In addition, these fish should Minjiang Estuary natural growth of the fish , the cause of death to be detected. - FJ. [Translated]

November 16, 2013 - SCOTIA SEA - A strong 6.8 magnitude undersea earthquake has struck in the Scotia Sea, between the furthest tip of South America and Antarctica.

USGS earthquake location.

There is a low likelihood that the quake, which struck at 0334 GMT (1434 AEDT) Saturday, will cause casualties or damage because of its remote location, said the US Geological Survey, which monitors earthquakes worldwide.

The quake was centred 917 kilometres southwest of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, 1158kms south-southeast of the Stanley, the capital of the Falklands Islands, and 1397kms southeast of Ushuaia, Argentina.

The epicentre was at a depth of nine kilometres, the USGS said.

USGS earthquake shakemap intensity.

The Pacific Tsunami Centre issued a bulletin stating that there was no threat of a destructive tsunami based on historical data.

However 'there is a small possibility of a local or regional tsunami that could affect coasts located usually no more than a few hundred kilometres from the earthquake epicentre,' the bulletin read.

The tremor, which was initially registered as a 7.4 earthquake, is the second over 6.0 magnitude temblor to the region over the last three days. On Wednesday, a 6.1 magnitude quake jolted the Scotia Sea at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles).

The USGS states that the region near the Scotia Sea in the southern
Atlantic Ocean is a complex area of marginal basins bordered by the
South America and Antarctic plates. The boundary motion between these
two larger plates is predominately strike-slip. The South
America-Antarctic plate motion is left lateral at about 15 mm/yr, with
the Scotia Plate twisting between the two. There does not appear to be
any north-south compression of the Scotia Plate. However, pure
strike-slip earthquakes do not represent all the motion between the
Scotia Sea and Antarctic plates. Partitioning occurs on one or both of
the Scotia Sea boundaries. Modeled motions are consistent with the
existence of a rigid Scotia Sea Plate.

USGS earthquake seismicity for the region.

Beyond the eastern end of the Scotia Sea
plate, the Sandwich Plate is moving rapidly eastward, at rates from 65
to 90 mm/yr. This forms an eastern flank of the spreading system behind
the South Sandwich Arc.

There are no land-based
observations within the Scotia Sea or Sandwich plates to measure plate
motion; all reported plate motions are derived from remote earthquake
recordings.

November 16, 2013 - INDONESIA - Indonesian officials have warned of a dangerous new eruption of the country's Mount Sinabung volcano, LiveScience reports on Friday. Officials fear that superheated ash and gas coming out of the mountain may indicate that the force of the volcano's eruptions are increasing.

Incredible photos of a massive eruption of the volcano made the rounds on Twitter today.

Mount Sinabung spews pyroclastic smoke as seen from Tigapancur village in Karo district.(Photo: Getty Images)

Mount Sinabung spews pyroclastic smoke as seen from Tigapancur village in Karo district.(Photo: Getty Images)

Man looks at the volcano from Berastagi village in Karo district. (Photo: Getty Images)

Refugees at a temporary evacuation centre, following another eruption of Mount Sinabung.(Photo: Getty Images)

The volcano as seen from the Berastagi village in Karo district. (Photo: Getty Images)

Motorists wear masks while passing through an area covered by ash after the volcanic eruption.(Photo: Getty Images)

Farmer show tomatoes covered in ash at his field in Medan, Sumatra.(Photo: Getty Images)

A view of tomatoes covered by ash after volcanic eruptions.(Photo: Getty Images)

A woman with her son sits on a truck being evacuated from their village in Karo district.(Photo: Getty Images)

A woman carries her daughter as the volcano spews pyroclastic smoke.(Photo: Getty Images)

Mount Sinabung spews pyroclastic smoke as seen from Berestagi village in Karo district.(Photo: Getty Images)

Villagers harvest potatoes at their field, located just less than four kilometers from the volcano.(Photo: Getty Images)

In October, Mount Sinabung erupted for the first time in three years. The AP reported at the time that the volcano spewed ash as high as two miles into the air, and covered nearby villages in thick gray ash. Thousands of people were forced to evacuate.

Officials warned people to stay at least 2 miles away from the mountain.